Category Archives: Cooking At Home

I don’t eat much Indian food. I had some bad experiences in some funky restaurants. I am trying to rediscover the flavors, because the cuisine has some amazing seasonings. I guess working on flavor combination’s for a thousand years, your bound to come up with a few that rock. Being located smack-dab in the middle of the Silk Road and spice trade routes couldn’t hurt either. Pictured above is a plate of ground lamb, pan fried with Garam Masala. Simple enough. Fry till everything in sight are crispy bits.

This is a popular dish at my place. Having a good grasp of the core principles of why this dish works, it’s fun to be able to tweak different areas to see where there is room to improve. For one, visually, I like the rice to be whiter than it is here. The original recipe calls for blending roasted chilies, cilantro and stock to use for the rice’s cooking liquid. I would rather toss in the cilantro and chilies while the rice is cook, and get to keep a brighter rice color. It kind of sounds like I am painting with food?!? Well, you have to see it before you eat it (excellent bumper sticker caption idea).

Bacon is the gateway drug for vegetarians. They don’t want to eat meat, but then there is bacon. Staring them in the face. Taunting them with it’s smoky, fatty goodness. Perfect crispy, caramel colored strips of love. Cooking it can be tricky, though. It is usually in the morning, after a Friday or Saturday night of one too many drinks. Your working with an open flame (at my house), hot grease and a slippery meat product. Dangerous times in the kitchen. Because of the splattering grease alone, I recommend not trying this in the nude (helps avoid embarrassing explanation at the doctors office).

Say what you want about Jamie Oliver, but he is ok in my book because he taught me how to make this: Slow Braised Chicken and Mashed Potatoes with a Rosemary White Wine Sauce. Classic flavor combinations, minimal ingredients.